The poem "grandfather Mazai and hares are based on real facts that happened in the Vyatka settlement of Dymkovo. The life of wonderful names

TO greatest discovery came a group of Vyatka independent historians! Studying the history of the appearance of the Dymkovo toy, the connection of this phenomenon was discovered not only with the famous flood of 1869, but also with the work of Nekrasov! Definitely, the descendants will erect a monument to us. Read:

Vyatka - the birthplace of elephants

At the heart of the poem "Grandfather Mazai and Hares" -
real facts that occurred in the Vyatka settlement Dymkovo
(as well as the history of the creation of the Dymkovo toy)

Few people know that the plot of Nikolai Nekrasov's poem "Grandfather Mazai and Hares" is based on real events that took place in Vyatka province. The poet described the flood that occurred in 1869 in the settlement of Dymkovo.
Since ancient times, the inhabitants of Dymkovo have been engaged in meat rabbit breeding, since there were plenty of fields and meadows along the right bank of the Vyatka River. The fame of the Dymkovo rabbit thundered throughout the country, their distinctive feature there was the ability to quickly gain weight - in the first six months of life, the little rabbit turned into an animal weighing up to 5 pounds (about 2.3 kg). And in 1868 at the fair in Nizhny Novgorod Dymkovo rabbit Ferdinand was shown weighing 16 pounds (7.3 kg)! The owner of the record holder Mazai Taranov had one of the largest livestock of these animals on the farm. The measured life of Dymkovo rabbit breeders was disrupted by a natural disaster that occurred in the spring of 1869. The process of destruction of karst rocks led to a decrease in the level of the right bank of the Vyatka by 12 centimeters, which caused the flooding of Dymkovo (since then, the settlement has been drowned every year). The flood came as a complete surprise to local residents. For some 2-3 hours, almost the entire population of rabbits died, washed away by a wave into the abyss of the high-water Vyatka. The only one who tried to fight the elements and save valuable animals was Mazai Taranov. The main object of the search was Ferdinand. Mazai's efforts were rewarded - on the second day of the search and rescue operation, he found his pet drifting on a beer box. Along the way, Taranov managed to save a dozen rabbits.
The water subsided in a week, and the incident caused a considerable resonance in the local press. The rumor about the elements reached the capital, and in the July issue of the St. Petersburg Vedomosti, an article was published “Meat factory Mazai Taranov saved the hares”, which served as the source material for Nekrasov’s poem. Taranov tried to resume the process of breeding Dymkovo rabbits, but as a result of the stress experienced, the rabbits saved by Mazay lost their ability to reproduce. Later they were eaten by the Taranovs, and Ferdinand died of natural causes in 1871. So the miracle breed of Dymkovo rabbits disappeared.
Without a favorite thing, Mazay Taranov took to drink with grief, which was the impetus for him to realize his gift for modeling and painting clay toys. At first, he sculpted only hares, and then moved on to more complex compositions “a woman with a yoke” and “a woman with a goat”. Taranov taught his new hobby to his wife, children, numerous relatives and acquaintances - the same former rabbit breeders, oppressed by grief. Over time, the entire able-bodied population of the settlement sculpted clay toys, with which the name "Dymkovo" soon became associated. To this day, the Dymkovo toy is one of the business cards Vyatka.
But they forgot about the miracle rabbits. True, sometimes experienced hunters talk about giant hares seen in the Comintern area. Although not a single one has been shot yet.

Vyacheslav Sykchin,
Corresponding Member of the All-Russian Research Institute of Rabbit Breeding,
master sculptor in the class "deer, livestock",
modeler of the 1st category in the class of "lady"

The question of the prototype of the hero of the poem "" almost did not arise. The famous hare rescuer has traditionally been perceived as a pure literary character. In the literature, however, it was said that grandfather Mazai is real, special person, but it sounded somehow deaf and not very convincing: (1902): “The poet left a description of the Miskovskaya volost in the poem “Grandfather Mazai and Hares”. Vezhi, from which old Mazai came, belongs to the same volost ” 439 ; A. V. Popov (1938): “The village of Malye Vezhi, where Mazai, one of Nekrasov’s hunter friends, lived, still exists” 440 ; V. V. Kastorsky (1958): “Grandfather Mazai is not a fictional person. This is (...) a peasant from Kostroma, a hunting friend of Nekrasov. The descendants of grandfather Mazai still live in the Kostroma region under the name Mazaikin * » 441 ; A. F. Tarasov (1977): “The hero of the poem “Grandfather Mazai ...” is a real person” 442 .

The famous grandfather Mazai lived in Vezha. The familiar phrase "grandfather Mazai" has long been perceived as a proper name, but, of course, this is only a village nickname. The literature has repeatedly indicated that the descendants of grandfather Mazai, who lived in Vezhy, bore the name Mazaikhin 443 .

Fortunately, we have the opportunity to determine the name of the person whom we know from childhood as Mazai's grandfather. Firstly, according to the revision tales of the first half of XIX century, in Vezhy there was only one Mazaikhin family. Secondly, in this family only one person could be the prototype of the legendary Nekrasov hero.

The founder of the Mazaikhin family was the peasant Savva Dmitrievich Mazaikhin (1771 - 1842). If in the revision tale of 1834 he is listed simply as "Sava Dmitriev" 444 , then in the fairy tale of 1850, despite his death in 1842, he is already recorded as "Savva Dmitriev Mazaikhin" 445 . Consequently, Savva Dmitrievich became the first person to officially receive the surname "Mazaikhin". In this surname, the root "mazaikh" is clearly visible, but we could not find such a word in any dictionary, and we do not know what it means. Whatever it was, but the surname "Mazaikhin" from the 30s. XIX century, it took root in Vezhy, and after a few decades, its truncated version - Mazay - was recognized by all of Russia. In 1801, a son was born to Savva Dmitrievich, who received the name Ivan at baptism. There is no doubt that he was baptized in his parish church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the Savior (Spas-Vezhi). And, of course, at baptism, no one could have thought that this baby would eventually become the famous grandfather Mazai.

Apparently in the early 20's. XIX century, Ivan Savvich married a peasant girl Feodora Kuzminichna (in the revision tale for 1850 she is listed as "Theodora Kozmina") 446 , who was one year younger than him - she was born in 1802 447 Savva Dmitrievich died in 1842 448 and, of course, was buried in the cemetery in Spas. Ivan Savvich became the head of the family, who by this time had two sons - Kodrat * (b. 1823) and Ivan (b. 1825) 449 . In the revision tale of 1850, the eldest son of Ivan Savvich is listed as "Kondratei", i.e. Kondrat 450 , but in the metric book he is referred to as Kodrat 451** .

There is no doubt that Ivan Savvich Mazaihin and grandfather Mazai are the same person, or, more precisely, that Ivan Savvich served as the prototype of the poem about grandfather Mazai. Apparently, Ivan Savvich was called Mazai in the village. *** , and this nickname is a truncated version of his last name.

One of the explanations for the origin of the nickname "Mazai" is contained in the essay by A. M. Chasovnikov **** “Grandfather Kondrat’s stove”, published in 1963. In this essay, the writer tells how, around 1940, he was fishing at the site of the future Kostroma reservoir and, in the rain, took refuge in a hut with a friend of his grandfather Kondrat Orlov (the writer does not indicate the name of the village) . In the conversation, it turned out that grandfather Kondrat is a relative of grandfather Mazai, who was a cousin of his mother 454 . To Chasovnikov’s question about whether he remembers Mazai, Grandfather Kondrat replied: “I remember well. I was twenty years old when Mazai died. 455 . The following is an explanation of the nickname "Mazay". Grandfather Kondrat says: “That was his nickname. He let a pool pass by the beast, as they say with us, he smeared it. Maze yes Maze! The nickname has become a surname 456 . However given message is deeply doubtful. Firstly, the author does not indicate in which village he talked with grandfather Kondrat. Secondly, according to the authoritative testimony of L.P. Piskunov, there was not a single old man named Kondrat Orlov in the pre-war Vezhy and Vederki. It seems that everything that A. M. Chasovnikov writes about is the fruit of his artistic imagination.

The real grandfather Mazai was undoubtedly an excellent hunter and well-aimed shooter. He began to “smear” with a gun only in advanced years, about which Nekrasov writes:

Mazay does not spend a day without hunting,
If he lived nicely, he would not know care,
If only their eyes did not change:
Mazai often began to poodle (II, 322).

However, stable nicknames are usually given to people either in youth or in early maturity; they are rarely received in old age. The most important objection is that, as mentioned above, the first to bear the surname Mazaikhin was the father of Ivan Savvich, Savva Dmitrievich Mazaikhin, and therefore, if anyone “smeared” on the hunt, then it was him.

Acquaintance of Ivan Savvich with Nekrasov, most likely, happened in the mid-60s. XIX century, when he was already about 65 years old, and both of his sons were about 40 years old. And therefore only Ivan Savvich can be Mazai's grandfather.

Against the identification of I. S. Mazaikhin with grandfather Mazai, one can object that the latter is said in the poem:

He is a widow, childless, has only a grandson (II, 322).

IN last time Ivan Savvich's wife, Fyodor Kuzminichna, is mentioned in 1858 when she was 55 years old. By the mid-60s, Ivan Savvich could well have become a widow. The words “childless, has only a grandson”, apparently, should be attributed to the fact that Nekrasov’s poem is, after all, not a documentary essay, but piece of art. By 1858, I. S. Mazaikhin had two sons, Kodrat and Ivan, and five grandchildren. Kodrat Ivanovich and his wife Nastasya Lavrentieva (b. 1823) had three children in 1858: daughter Maria (b. 1848) and sons Trifon (b. 1854) and Vasily (1857) 457 . Ivan Ivanovich and his wife Pelageya Davydova (b. 1831) then had two children: daughter Matryona (b. 1854) and son Vasily (b. 1857) (there was still a son, Alexander, born in 1850, but he died in 1855) 458 . By the mid-60s, the number of grandchildren of I. S. Mazaikhin had certainly increased. We repeat once again that the poem about grandfather Mazai is a work of art, and, apparently, Nekrasov considered that it was more appropriate for the poetic Mazai to be childless and have only one grandson.

It has already been written above about the assumption of V. N. Osokin that the hero of the poem “Bees”, not named by the name of the old beekeeper, is grandfather Mazai. Recall this poem, the hero of which tells a passer-by:

Fuck honey! eat with a loaf.
Listen to the parable about the bees!
Now the water has spilled beyond measure,
Thought it was just a flood
Only and dry that our village
By gardens where we have beehives.
The bee was surrounded by water,
He sees both the forest and the meadows in the distance,
Well - and flies - nothing light,
And how loaded will fly back,
Darling lacks strength. - Trouble!
The water is full of bees,
Drowning working women, drowning hearts!
I'm burning to help, we did not look forward to, sinners,
Do not guess by yourself forever!
Yes, it hurt a good man,
Under the Annunciation remember a passerby?
He thought, man of Christ!
Listen, son, how we saved the bees:
With a passerby, I grieved and yearned;
“You would have set milestones for them to land”,
This is the word he said!
Do you believe: a little the first milestone is green
They took it to the water, began to stick it in,
The bees understood the tricky skill:
So they bring down and bring down to rest!
Like pilgrims at the church on a bench,
They sat down. -
On the hillock, on the grass,
Well, in the forest and in the fields grace:
The bees are not afraid to fly there,
Everything from a single good word!
Eat for health, we will be with honey,
God bless the passerby!
The muzhik has finished, has dawned with a cross;
The boy finished eating honey with a loaf,
Tyatina's parable that hour listened
And for the passerby low bow
He also answered the Lord God (II, 291-292).

The version of the poem says:

The village of Vezha was just "on a hillock", rising among boundless meadows.

The idea of ​​V. N. Osokin that the hero of the poem “Bees” is grandfather Mazai is extremely interesting, and one cannot but share it. From this we can assume that the real Mazai kept bees. It is known that the inhabitants of Vezhy have been raising bees for a long time. According to the testimony of Jacob Nifontov, in the 70-80s. XIX century in the Miskovskaya volost there were more than 300 beehives 459 . L.P. Piskunov reports that in the 30-50s. XX century 5-6 families in Vezha had apiaries of 8-10 beehives 460 . “The abundance of bees and beekeepers,” writes L.P. Piskunov, “is explained by the fact that there was a lot of forbs in our water meadows, many flowers grew. I remember when you walk along a meadow path during the first haymaking, a honey smell emanated from the grass and freshly cut swaths. 461 . In the memoirs of L.P. Piskunov there is also a direct confirmation of what is said in the poem "Bees". He writes: “On warm days during the high water, the first honey collection began with willow and red willow, which are the first to open their “lambs”. At this time, when the meadows are flooded with water, the bees had to fly far into the forests. Sometimes at the same time bad weather overtook the bees - strong wind, rain - and many of them died, fell into the water, drowned. I personally had to observe this more than once (...) when you ride a boat through the hollow in the spring ” 462 .

Undoubtedly, local historians were embarrassed by the fact that in the poem the village of Mazaya was called "Small Vyozhy" (this name is not recorded in any document), while by the end of the 19th century it was simply called Vyozhy. The name of the village of Mazaya "Small Vezhy" created confusion when Vyozhy was confused with the village of Spas-Vezhi (Spas). B. V. Gnedovsky noted that Nekrasov, in a poem about grandfather Mazai, “calls (...) the village of Spas “Small Vezhi”” 463 . Following B. V. Gnedovsky, many authors repeated this mistake. A. F. Tarasov: "Village of grandfather Mazai - Small Vezha (Spas-Vezhi)" 464 . V. G. Bryusova writes about the “Church of the Transfiguration from the village of Malye Vezha, called Spas-Vezhi” 465 . E. V. Kudryashov, speaking of the same temple, wrote: “The church stood near the ancient villages of Spas and Vezha” 466 (although in fact the church stood on the outskirts of the village of Spas, one verst from the village of Vezha). N.K. Nekrasov mistakenly merged Vezha into one with the Savior. “In this ‘low land’,” he wrote, “there was the village of Malye Vezha. Next to it stood a village with the name “Spas”, which was widespread in the old days. It merged with Vezhy and became known as Spas-Vezhi. 467 . This, of course, is not true. Until the mid 50s. XX century and the village of Vezhy, and p. Spas was a separate village, located one kilometer from each other.

As you know, there has long been a tradition when two villages with the same names and located not far from each other have clarifying names: Small (th, - th) and Large (th, - th). For example, in the Kostroma district, by the beginning of the 20th century, there were the following “pairs” of names: Bolshie Soli - Malye Soli, Bolshoi Andreykovo - Maloye Andreykovo, Bolshie Bugry - Small Bugry, etc. Usually such names appeared when part of the inhabitants were evicted from one village , founded a new village, giving it the same name. In this case, the new village received the clarifying prefix "Small", and the old village - "Big" * . It is logical to assume that some time ago part of the inhabitants from Spas moved to Vezhi, and these villages began to be called Bolshie Vezhi (Spas) and Small Vezhi (Vezhi). Over time, the Bolshiye Vyozhy variant, apparently, could be supplanted by the name Spas-Vyozhy (later Spas), and the name Malye Vyozhy, left without a pair, was forgotten, turning simply into Vyozhy.

The main thing in the poem "Grandfather Mazai and Hares" is a story about a spring flood, during which Mazai saves hares. At the very beginning of the poem about spills, it says:

(Water understands all this area * ,
So the village rises in the spring,
Like Venice) (II, 322).

Drawing by D. Shmarinov. 1946

During the flood, the kind grandfather Mazay saved the dying hares. Recall the well-known passage:

“... I am looking for firewood

I went in a boat - there are a lot of them from the river

It catches up with us in the spring flood -

I'm going to catch them. The water is coming.

I see one small island -

Hares on it gathered in a crowd.

With every minute the water was begging

To the poor animals; left under them

Less than an arshin of earth in width,

Less than a fathom in length.

Then I drove up: they babble with their ears

Themselves from the spot; I took one

I commanded the rest: jump yourself!

My hares jumped - nothing!

Only the oblique team sat down,

The whole island disappeared under water:

“That's it!” I said: “Don't argue with me!

Listen, bunnies, to grandfather Mazai!” (II, 324).

During spring floods in the District, animals - wolves, hares, foxes, wild boars, elks - found themselves in a difficult situation, many of them died. L.P. Piskunov recalls the flood in 1936, when Vezha “was flooded so that in many houses the water reached the windows of the first floors (...). At that time, a large number of forest lands were flooded, only separate small islands in the forests remained unflooded. Then many animals died. Moose swam, searched for islands of land, and not finding them, they drowned. Their swollen carcasses were later found by our men in the forests and on hollows. Hares, when the last piece of land left from under them, swam, drowned, climbed onto stumps, crooked trees, logs. Some men took them off and brought them to the village or planted them somewhere in the forest on an island. My father once rode a botanical hanger to hang the nets for drying and met a dead wolf in the forest, which swam on a thick log, laying his head and clinging to the log with his front paws. 470 .

E. P. Dubrovina made an important remark confirming that Nekrasov is conveying the true story of Mazai. The poem says that hares "burp their ears." The researcher defined the expression “to babble with your ears” (i.e., move them from side to side) as a purely Kostroma dialectism, recorded by her in the speech of the old residents of the Kostroma region in the villages of Spas, Shunga and the village of Nekrasovo (b. Svyatoe) 471 .

In the work of Nekrasov, a poem about grandfather Mazai occupies a special place. It is unlikely that anyone will dispute that at present this is the most popular work poet, and grandfather Mazai is the most beloved Nekrasov hero. It is impossible not to be surprised how from the pen of the poet, who almost always depicted Russian life with the “gloomy, bilious one-sidedness of the accuser” (A. V. Tyrkova-Williams), such a bright, kind, completely devoid of accusation poem came out.

It is noteworthy that in the works of non-specialists (both pre-revolutionary and Soviet) about “Grandfather Mazai ...” they usually say either very sparingly, or not at all. One can point out many solid works and capital teaching aids in which this poem is not mentioned in a single word. Such silence, of course, is not accidental. "Grandfather Mazai ..." lay outside the mainstream of Nekrasov's poetry - with its invariable pictures of people's grief and calls for an uprising. V.V. Zhdanov, one of the few who mentioned him, highlights “the story of the Kostroma peasant grandfather Mazai, who collected dying hares in his boat during the flood. The poems are imbued with genuine love for (...) nature, for the people of that “low land” where Nekrasov liked to hunt. Poems dedicated to Russian children (...) were born in minutes peace of mind and the tranquility in which the poet always immersed himself, finding himself with nature or among the people of the village. Hence the bright coloring of these poems, their non-fictional plots, their truly folk humor. 472 . The poem about grandfather Mazai is, of course, the best of Nekrasov's works, which reflects all the brightest that was in the soul of the poet.

We do not know when I. S. Mazaikhin died, and therefore we do not know if he lived to see the publication of the poem. Revision censuses after 1858 were no longer conducted. The parish registers of the Church of the Transfiguration in the Savior have been preserved only since 1879. Apparently, I. S. Mazaikhin died at the turn of the 60s and 70s. XIX century. His funeral, of course, took place in the parish Church of the Transfiguration in Spas-Vezhi. At its walls, in the parish cemetery, he was buried. If I. S. Mazaikhin died before 1875, then the priest Fr. John Demidov * . If the prototype of grandfather Mazai died after 1875, then the sacrament of his funeral was performed by Fr. Sosipater Dobrovolsky (1840 - 1919), who served as rector of the Transfiguration Church for 44 years - from 1875 until his death in 1919 474 .

The fate of the first generations of the descendants of I. S. Mazaikhin is of considerable interest. It was written above that one of the features of the Kostroma District was that both Orthodox and adherents of several Old Believers lived side by side here (according to N. N. Vinogradov, here in each village there were “five faiths, ten senses" 475 ). Representatives of different "faiths" often moved from one to another. main reason Such transitions were marriages, when young people who fell in love with each other belonged to different sects. In such cases, the case often ended with either the groom converting to the faith of the bride, or vice versa. In the fate of the descendants of I. S. Mazaikhin, this feature of the region manifested itself in the most obvious way.

Apparently, the son of I. S. Mazaikhin, Ivan Ivanovich Mazaikhin (b. 1825), in the mid-50s, before his marriage to Pelageya Davydova (b. 1821), left Orthodoxy and became an Old Believer-bespopovtsy, Netovsky sense ** .

In the second half of the 60s. In the 19th century (probably during the life of his father), Ivan Ivanovich erected a stone house in Vezhy (in any case, it was his grandson, S.V. Mazaikhin, who lived in it in the first half of the century). Exact time the construction of the house is unknown, but until the beginning of the 50s. XX century on its wall hung a tin "Russian Insurance Company" with the inscription "Insured 1870", therefore, it was built, most likely in the late 60s. century. "Mazaikhin house" in Vezhy became one of the very first stone peasant houses not only in the Zaretsk region and the Kostroma district, but also in the entire Kostroma province. It was reminiscent of a middle-class urban noble mansion - two-story, with semicircular top windows on the second floor, with decorative pilasters on the walls. L.P. Piskunov testifies that “Mazaikhin Dom”, as it was called in Vezhy, “was the oldest brick house in the village (...). Initially, it had three windows, two-story, and in the years 1870-80 a side chapel was made for two more windows on two floors, and a shed across the entire width of the house. Above the windows of the second floor, on the wall, was attached a metal plate the size of a large plate, where (...) the following was embossed:

"The Russian insurance society is insured in 1870".

Our house was opposite across the street, and this sign was often seen from the window. 477 . In another essay, L.P. Piskunov clarifies the name of the house: “...Mazaihin house, or, more precisely, the house of grandfather Mazai (as it was sometimes called)” 478 . Up until the 50s. XX century, the street on which the "Mazaikhin" house stood was called Mazaikhina Street 479 .

The son of Ivan Ivanovich, Vasily Ivanovich Mazaikhin (b. 1857), married Theodosya Kallistratova (Kallistratovna), who belonged to the "clergy" 480 . One of his daughters, Maria Vasilievna, was married off by V. I. Mazaikhin to a wealthy merchant, honorary hereditary citizen Dmitry Evdokimovich Gordeev. The latter permanently lived in the estate of Dor Romanovsky district of the Yaroslavl province, and came to the Kostroma district on business. IN late XIX century, D. E. Gordeev bought 324 acres of land in the Zarechye and built a potato grater in the village of Petrilovo 481 . In the early 90s, the Bogoroditsko-Kazan Church in Petrilov was overhauled with his donations. At the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. D. E. Gordeev erected next to it a small one-domed church, consecrated in 1901 in the name of his angel - St. Demetrius, with a family tomb 482 . In the memory of the old-timers of the District, he remained as "master Gordeev" 483 . After his death (D. E. Gordeev died, apparently, in 1911), the plant in Petrilov until the revolution belonged to his son, Alexander Dmitrievich Gordeev, great-great-grandson of I. S. Mazaikhin.

The son of V. I. Mazaikhin, Sergey Vasilievich Mazaikhin (1887 - 1973) was baptized in the “netovshchina”. However, wanting to marry a girl from an Orthodox family, through the sacrament of chrismation performed by Fr. Sosipatr Dobrovolsky in the Church of the Transfiguration with. Spas-Vezhi (Spas) January 12, 1913, Sergei Vasilyevich was officially annexed to Orthodoxy 484 . Eight days later, on January 20, 1913, in the same church, Fr. Sosipater married S. V. Mazaikhin and his chosen one, a native of Vezha Alexandra Pavlovna Kuznetsova (1891 - 1967) 485 .

The one who's told this enough amazing story(Let's call him a storyteller), he liked to come to the village of Malye Vezha. There, an old hunter, whose name was Mazai, was always waiting for him. The narrator stayed with Mazai and went hunting with him. And once, while hunting, they got caught in the pouring rain, and they had to look for shelter.

"Grandfather Mazai and hares": a summary

They took refuge in some shed, where cheerful conversations immediately began. Grandfather Mazai was a big master of different bikes and interesting stories. At first he poisoned about village hunters, among whom one broke the trigger of a gun and went hunting with a box of matches, the other had constantly cold hands and he warmed himself with a pot of coals that he carried with him. And one was a unique case with Mazai himself, and therefore the narrator decided to write it down with his own hand.

And that's why the plot of the work "Grandfather Mazai and Hares" ( summary) is very interesting.

The old hunter began to tell that if the peasants had not killed game in the lowlands during the spring floods, then there would have been much more of it in these places.

Nekrasov "Grandfather Mazai and Hares": a summary

So, one day in the spring, during one of such strong floods, grandfather Mazay got out into the forest for firewood.

Thus begins the story called "Grandfather Mazai and Hares." Brief summary - below. While sailing on a boat, grandfather discovered a small island in the water, on which, fleeing from the flood, hares crowded. The old hunter took them to his boat. And then he noticed a hare on a stump and also saved her from certain death. Having sailed a little further, he saw a log on which several more hares were sitting. Then he hooked the log with a hook and dragged it along. Grandfather took all the animals to a safe place and released them - they rushed in all directions. Two pairs of hares were greatly weakened and could not run. Mazai put them in a bag and brought them home, warmed them up and released them in the morning.

This is how the work “Grandfather Mazai and Hares” ended. The summary can be completed by the fact that after this incident the whole village laughed at grandfather Mazai. And since then he has not shot hares either in spring or in summer, only exclusively in winter. In the summer he hunted ducks, gathered berries and mushrooms, chatted with hunters, and often walked to Kostroma.

A work about how a good hunter helped hares is not just a poem about a hunter with whom interesting case. In this work by N. N. Nekrasov, one feels a call to the need to protect and respect nature. About manifestation careful attitude To environment can be read in the summary "Grandfather Mazai and hares".

Features of Nekrasov's creativity

Before you get acquainted with the summary of "Grandfather Mazai and Hares", you need to consider the features of creativity famous poet. How is his work different from others? Nikolai Nekrasov took difficulties to heart peasant life. And his concern for the simple Russian people is felt in almost all of his creations.

Nekrasov's poems were devoted to describing the life of peasants: their way of life, problems, way of life. The poet actively used in his works folk colloquial making the characters in his stories come alive. Combining colloquial style and phraseological units, Nekrasov significantly expanded the poetic framework.

The image of grandfather as a guard of the forest

In the summary of "Grandfather Mazai and the Hares", one should dwell in more detail on the main acting person. The old hunter Mazai is a kind, simple man who does not hunt for pleasure. He is upset that people have ceased to show proper respect for nature and do not care about it. According to Mazay, one must treat with love not only animals, but also the smallest blade of grass.

Grandfather Mazai loved the land in which he lived. He can be compared to the "guardian" of the forest and nature: for him, all forest dwellers are his friends. Grandfather Mazai is shown as a kind and compassionate person. In the summary of "Grandfather Mazai and the hares" the main attention will be paid to the episode with the hares. If you choose to view the work in full version then read beautiful description nature.

The flood episode

The narrator visits his friend Ded Mazay in the village every year. One evening, a heavy downpour overtakes them and they take refuge in a barn. The hunter tells stories and the narrator remembers the episode about saving the hares. In the spring there was a flood, Mazai sailed in a boat for firewood. On the way back, he sees that there are hares on an island surrounded by water. Grandpa decides to save them and takes them to his boat. He helps other long-eared friends along the way.

This is how they get to the shore. The villagers laugh at what the hunter has done. Mazai asks the hares not to come across him in the winter hunting, because at other times of the year he does not hunt them. He cured two rabbits and released them into the forest.

This was a summary of "Grandfather Mazai and Hares" by Nekrasov. With the help of this story, the poet wanted to urge people to take care of nature.

"Grandfather Mazai and Hares" Nekrasov

« Grandfather Mazai and hares » analysis of the work - theme, idea, genre, plot, composition, characters, problems and other issues are disclosed in this article.

History of creation

The poem "Grandfather" was written by Nekrasov in 1870. It describes the arrival of an old Decembrist to his son's estate. The beginning of the action of the poem dates back to 1856, when a manifesto was published that returned the Decembrists from exile.

The image of the grandfather is collective. The prototype is considered to be Sergei Volkonsky, who returned as a 68-year-old man, still handsome and stately. The degraded General Volkonsky loved to talk with the peasants, and the peasant children called him grandfather. The temperamental Mikhail Bestuzhev, with whom Nekrasov spoke in 1869, is also considered the prototype.

The poem is dedicated to Z-n-ch-e (Zinochka), that is, Zinaida Nikolaevna Nekrasova, Nekrasov's common-law wife.

Literary direction, genre

"Grandfather" is a realistic poem. For censorship reasons, Nekrasov does not say directly that grandfather is a Decembrist. The hero dreams of the freedom and wealth of the people, promising the peasants and soldiers that life will soon be easier for them (a hint at the reforms of Alexander II).

The image of the main character

The reader sees the grandfather through the eyes of a grandson. First, Sasha notices a portrait of a young general (obviously from the war of 1812). Then he learns from his parents that grandfather is surrounded by some sad secret. Then the mother reveals to Sasha that grandfather is kind, brave and unhappy. Arriving from afar, grandfather announces that he has come to terms with everything. But further developments suggest that this is not the case. Grandfather lives with the thought of revenge, urges Sasha to cherish honor and avenge insults. He is like a biblical hero who suffered for the people: his son falls at his feet, Sasha's mother combs her gray hair, Sasha asks about the wounds on his arm and leg.

The portrait is described with the help of epithets: "Ancient for years, but still vigorous and beautiful." Grandfather has whole teeth, a firm tread and posture, white curls, a silver beard, a holy smile.

The biblical nature of the grandfather’s image is emphasized by the hero’s rehashing of the biblical phrases: “He who has ears, let him hear, and he who has eyes, let him see.”

At home, grandfather walks with his grandson, admires nature, comparing it with the deaf, dull, deserted nature of the place of exile, “strokes the peasant children,” and talks to the peasants. He cannot sit without work: he plows, digs ridges, binds, stitches.

The song brings grandfather closer to the people. He sings about the Decembrists, about their exile. Nekrasov also sang "about Trubetskoy and Volkonskaya": his poem "Grandfather" opened a cycle of poems about the Decembrists.

Nekrasov entrusted his innermost thoughts to his grandfather: that country is successful in which the population is characterized not by dull obedience, but by strength, unanimity and reason. Nekrasov, with the words of his grandfather, appeals to the reader: "Woe to a devastated country, woe to a backward country."

Negative images of the poem

Officials and gentlemen squeeze juice from the people (metaphor), vile clerks (epithet), go on a campaign against the army, treasury and people (metaphor), a greedy flock of predators (metaphor and epithet) is preparing the death of the fatherland, “the groans of slaves drowning out flattery and whistling whips " (metaphor). The military commander is atrocious, he beats his soul into his heels, so that his teeth fall like hail, he does not even allow breathing in the ranks (hyperbole).

Theme, main idea and composition

The theme of the poem is the transmission to new generations of true, from the point of view of the author, values ​​(freedom and happiness of the people, prosperity of the country).

The main idea: the cause of the Decembrists did not die. It will be continued by the next properly educated generations.

The poem consists of 22 chapters, many of which end with the refrain: "You will grow up, Sasha, you will learn ...". Others - with rhetorical questions: “Who who has a soul could endure this? Who?"

The action of the poem takes several years. It begins with little Sasha's question about the portrait of his grandfather. Grandfather tells his grandson about the arbitrariness of the landlords of the past (obviously, before the Decembrist uprising), summarizing it: "The spectacle of the disasters of the people is unbearable, my friend." The poem ends with Sasha's readiness to learn the sad story. He lacks both knowledge and a cordial disposition: “He hates the stupid and evil, wishes good to the poor.” The poem has an open ending.

In the inserted episodes, grandfather tells Sasha a story about a utopian settlement he met in Siberia, in Tarbagatai. Raskolnikov was exiled to a deserted place, and a year later a village stood there, and half a century later a whole settlement grew up: “Wonderful divas create the will and labor of a person.”

Size and rhyme

The poem is written in three-foot dactyl. Cross rhyming, feminine rhyme alternates with masculine.